Drum Roll Please...the LONG wait is over!

Last week, winners of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation were announced.  Among the names of this “genius grant” totaling $625,000, is a University of Pennsylvania researcher, Angela Lee Duckworth.  Her focus has been education and specifically, the role of grit in a wide variety of fields.

Dr. Duckworth continues to reach out to teachers and corporate partners to provide insight into how tenacity and perseverance plays a more key role than raw talent across many venues.

To the countless educators who are searching for resources to develop and nurture these traits in their students at the same time that they must instruct and assess the basic academic skills, the wait is over!   Here is a special gift: Learning That Never Ends..Qualities of a Lifelong Learner.    Our gift to you, presented through Learning That Never Ends, is a way for all students to acquire what they need to navigate successfully for life.

 

                                                    

 

                 http://www.amazon.com/Learning-That-Never-Ends-              Qualities/dp/1475805314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369506757&sr=1-1

 

 

Here’s a quick peek at just one of the qualities of a lifelong learner….

 

 

Lifelong Learners are Tenacious

“Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.”                        - - L. Thomas Holdcroft -

Being tenacious means having the capacity to survive, to progress through difficulty, to bounce back, to move on positively again and again in life (Gibbs 2006, 41). Tenacity means knowing that failing is a just a cue to try something else. Tenacious people are self-driven. They give a little extra because they know it will help get them where they want to go.

Why is tenacity important to becoming a lifelong learner?

            Tenacious people do not give up easily. They stick to an activity until the end, having resolve and a strong work ethic. They accept that stress is a healthy part of everyday life and do not let life’s problems take them down.

Stuff happens. Tenacious people recognize that no one is immune; pressure is simply a by-product of life. What counts then, is not the amount or the kind of pressure we face – but the ways we come to deal with it. How you handle pressure can determine nothing less than how rewarding a life you’ll lead (Garofalo 2008, 163). Lifelong learners summon the courage to try. They don’t give up without a fight.

 It is not the circumstances; it is what we choose to do in response to the situation that determines who we are and whom we will become. Tenacity matters. Tenacious people look at mistakes and failures as a rough draft.  They see the struggle as temporary and necessary to accomplish their goals. It is something to go through, not get around. Heart, soul, guts…these are the vital building blocks of tenacity.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of tenacity. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not, the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth president of the United States (1872-1933).